And what kind of makes me laugh is thinking about the time I was in high school. I mean really, with the dysfunction, melodrama, sex, violence, scandals, with puns and double entendres on the side it was like 90210 with a side of The Simpsons.

But in Olde English.

You read Old English in HS? That's pretty tough stuff. Unless you mean Shakespearean English which is (early) Modern English. The left side of this page is Old English (Beowulf to be specific.)

One peeve I have is when I loved something as a young impressionable teen and then I re-read it and see all of the gaping holes, inappropriate behaviour and wonder what teenage me was thinking. I read an old Victoria Holt romantic novel recently and I can't believe I used to devour those. The protagonist was ridiculously wet, the "hero" made me uncomfortable with the fact he was lusting after her when she was 14 and the whole approach made me feel deeply uneasy. I know people got married younger in the Victorian era but there was something about the way that book handled it was very offputting.

Yet I know when I was a teenager they were my favourite book and I thought them the zenith of romance. Oddly I still like other historical romances but there's something about the style of the VH ones that makes me uncomfortable.

It's funny what adulthood brings to one in terms of changing approaches.

Oh, man, Victoria Holt. Loved them in high school, so grossed out by them now.

Logged

If wisdoms ways you wisely seek,Five things observe with care,To whom you speak,Of whom you speak,And how, and when, and where.Caroline Lake Ingalls

I remember babysitting in a house with no books. After putting the children to bed, I finished my homework, finished my library book and called my mother to whine about nothing to read. She gathered up several books and walked to where I was babysitting. (Thanks, Mama!)

I made the transition from children's books to adult books via Reader's Digest Condensed books. Loved them and my mother read them first and would say, "You may read this one, but not that one." And I obeyed! (Usually it was death that had her restricting me. As a child, because of the death of my brother, I didn't handle any mention of death very well.)

And what kind of makes me laugh is thinking about the time I was in high school. I mean really, with the dysfunction, melodrama, sex, violence, scandals, with puns and double entendres on the side it was like 90210 with a side of The Simpsons.

But in Olde English.

Sorry, Piratelvr, you've hit one of my history peeves. Shakespeare is Early Modern English. THIS is Old English/Anglo-Saxon:

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Common sense is not a gift, but a curse. Because thenyou have to deal with all the people who don't have it. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

My daughter was whinging about her and her friends' boredom in English while covering Shakespeare. I helpfully showed her where to find what the insults and really naughty innuendoes mean...suddenly, they think ol' Bill is the coolest.

And what kind of makes me laugh is thinking about the time I was in high school. I mean really, with the dysfunction, melodrama, sex, violence, scandals, with puns and double entendres on the side it was like 90210 with a side of The Simpsons.

But in Olde English.

Sorry, Piratelvr, you've hit one of my history peeves. Shakespeare is Early Modern English. THIS is Old English/Anglo-Saxon:

I think so. It looks like The Lord's Prayer. There's a lot of similarity between Anglo-Saxon and the German dialect I grew up with. (Speak it badly, understand it medium-well.) I have no idea how to pronounce either š or ž, though.

I think so. It looks like The Lord's Prayer. There's a lot of similarity between Anglo-Saxon and the German dialect I grew up with. (Speak it badly, understand it medium-well.) I have no idea how to pronounce either š or ž, though.

ž is called "thorn" and is pronounced "th." As English progressed and the thorn started to fade away, typesetters used the "y" to represent it.

English really is a mongrel of a language. There's a quote (I'm forgetting who said it and am too lazy to Google it) that goes something like: "English doesn't just borrow words from other languages. English hits other languages over the head, drags them into dark alleys, and rifles their pockets for words." I've always thought that described the development of English very well.

And what kind of makes me laugh is thinking about the time I was in high school. I mean really, with the dysfunction, melodrama, sex, violence, scandals, with puns and double entendres on the side it was like 90210 with a side of The Simpsons.

But in Olde English.

Sorry, Piratelvr, you've hit one of my history peeves. Shakespeare is Early Modern English. THIS is Old English/Anglo-Saxon:

This is something that annoys me in romance novels. The hero has had an evil mother/step-mother/wife/etc and has decided that that makes all woman manipulative cheating liers. Then he meets the heroine and realizes that there's one woman who isn't like that but still every other woman remains evil. I prefer my romances to be about people I can like at least a little. There's also a sub-genre in which the author seems to hate women. Everyone but the heroine is shallow or vain or mean and the heroine is the shining exception (I think that one book described the heroine to be unlike every other young lady of her generation or something like that).

Ereine, that drives me mad! There are a few authors I avoid because they constantly do this. The worst part is the woman-hating is usually not presented as a flaw, but rather understandable because the his wife cheated on him, or something. Women still tend to be held to much higher standards than men in certain genres, romance being one of them. A guy can be a real jerk and he's just a 'bad boy alpha' but if a woman dares to step outside the do-gooder near-virgin mold readers will dislike her!

Though it happens in other genres too--the misogyny in much of the Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice and Fire fandoms is infuriating.

That's probably what annoys me the most, that it's presented like it's a completely understandable reaction. There are also heroines who have been betrayed by men and so will never trust one again. That may possibly be realistic but boring to me to read about. I do enjoy some Dear Enemy type books, if they're well done but they seem more based on dislike than distrust and that seems to make a difference.